Patent Application
20240310147
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The disclosure relates to gas dispersal system and more particularly pertains to a new gas dispersal system for releasing riot control gas for the temporary incapacitation of rioters.
The prior art discloses gas dispersal devices which are mounted to unmanned aerial vehicles for releasing riot control gases into crowds of people. U.S. Pat. Application No. 2006/0144598 generally discloses fitting an emergency response vehicle designed for fighting fires with tanks of tear gas for use during riots. However, the prior art does not describe a wheeled motor vehicle having a gas dispersal assembly mounted to the vehicle with a valve release means to disperse riot control gas. The prior art further fails to address structure allowing for operation of such a device from within a compartment of the vehicle or remotely from the vehicle.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a vehicle including a motor and a plurality of wheels which is mechanically coupled to the motor. A fluid tank is mounted to the vehicle, and a quantity of riot control gas is stored in the fluid tank under pressure. A tubing is fluidly coupled to the fluid tank and has a plurality of outlets for dispersing riot control gas flowing through the tubing from the fluid tank. A valve is in fluid communication with the fluid tank and the tubing. The valve is movable between a closed position and an open position. The valve inhibits the quantity of riot control gas from moving through the tubing when the valve is closed and permits the quantity of riot control gas through the tubing across the valve when the valve is open.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A fluid tank 26 is mounted to the vehicle 12 and is positioned in the trunk compartment 20 of the vehicle 12. A quantity of riot control gas 28 is stored in the fluid tank 26 under pressure relative to ambient pressure. The term “riot control gas” as used in the specification and the claims refers to a gaseous substance containing a compound that is used to temporarily incapacitate people by causing irritation to at least one of the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin. Some compounds used for riot control gas 28 include chloroacetophenone (CN) and chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile (CS), but other compounds may be used as well as combinations of various compounds.
A tubing 30 is fluidly coupled to the fluid tank 26 and has a plurality of outlets 32 for dispersing riot control gas 28 flowing through the tubing 30 from the fluid tank 26. The tubing 30 extends downwardly from the tank through the body 18 of the vehicle 12 and along an underside 34 of the body 18. The outlets 32 are spaced from each other and are positioned adjacent to a periphery 36 of the vehicle 12. A valve 38 is in fluid communication with the fluid tank 26 and the tubing 30. The valve 38 is movable between a closed position and an open position. The valve 38 inhibits the quantity of riot control gas 28 from moving through the tubing 30 when the valve 38 is closed and permits the quantity of riot control gas 28 through the tubing 30 across the valve 38 when the valve 38 is open.
An actuator 40 is operatively coupled to the valve 38 which is actuatable to move the valve 38 between the closed position and the open position. The actuator 40 may be a solenoid, electric screw, servomotor or the like. A control circuit 42 is electrically coupled to the actuator 40 and the electrical system 16 of the vehicle 12. The control circuit 42 may be coupled to a separate power source. A switch 44 is mounted to the vehicle 12 and positioned in the cabin compartment 24. The switch 44 is electrically coupled to the control circuit 42 and is operable to direct the actuator 40 to move the valve 38 between the closed position and the open position. A remote control 46 is in wireless communication with the control circuit 42 and has a remote switch for directing the actuator 40 to move the valve 38 between the closed position and the open position.
In use, the valve 38 is selectively opened by operating one of the switch 44 and the remote switch to release the quantity of riot control gas 28 from the fluid tank 26 through the tubing 30 and out of the outlets 32 to incapacitate people near the vehicle 12. The riot control gas 28 may be released, for example, by the operator of the vehicle 12 while the operator is contained within the cabin compartment 24.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
